Author(s): Antonia Barke, Nele Nyenhuis, Till Voigts, Hans Gehrke and Birgit Kroner-Herwig
Introduction: There is a growing need for an instrument generating reliable scores and permitting valid interpretations regarding the excessive use of internet and video games. So far there is no specific questionnaire to address the excessive use of online games. The Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) measures the construct of compulsive internet use. The English version is brief and possesses good psychometric properties. We translated it into German and adapted it to online gaming, in particular playing World of Warcraft® (WoW).
Method: A sample of 935 WoW players (mean age 23.3 ± 6.4 years, 78.1% male) completed an online version of the adapted CIUS-WoW and provided information on the time they spend playing WoW in a typical week. Item and reliability analyses were computed. In order to investigate the component structure the sample was randomly divided into two subsamples and a principal component analysis conducted for one subsample and a confirmatory factor analysis for the other subsample.
Results: The CIUS-WoW scores possessed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .86). A two-component structure with the components Loss of Control and Commitment and a single component structure showed an acceptable fit. The CIUS-WoW score correlated with the time spent playing WoW in a typical week (r = .44).
Discussion: The adapted CIUS-WoW produced scores with good internal consistency close to that of the original version. The correlation with time spent playing in a typical week is a first indication that it allows valid interpretations.
